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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

MILWAUKEE, February 23--New undercover footage shows staff at a Milwaukee, WI Planned Parenthood abortion clinic counseling a purportedly 14-year-old statutory rape victim not to tell anyone about her 31-year-old boyfriend and coaching her how to obtain an abortion without her parents' consent. The new video, ninth in a series from Live Action documenting similar behavior in 5 other states, comes amid recent controversy about Planned Parenthood's compliance with state laws regarding minors and abortion.

In the video, after hearing the girl is 14 and her boyfriend is "much older," the counselor says whether or not the situation will be reported by clinic workers "depends on the person you're disclosing that information to." When the girl says that her boyfriend is 31, the counselor tells her, "You don't have to say anything" about the statutory rape and instructs her, "Just give them the information that's needed." The counselor also confirms that the 31-year-old "boyfriend" will be paying for the abortion.

In Wisconsin, sex between an adult and a minor under age 16 is a felony, and health care professionals are required to report such cases to law enforcement immediately. The law specifically includes abortion providers in this requirement.

Live Action, the youth-led pro-life nonprofit that produced the video, has previously released undercover footage in its "Mona Lisa Project" showing sexual abuse cover-up at Planned Parenthood clinics in California, Indiana, Arizona, Tennessee, and Alabama. The Alabama Department of Health put a Birmingham Planned Parenthood on probation two weeks ago after finding 9 legal violations during an investigation prompted by a Live Action video.

Twenty-one-year-old UCLA student Lila Rose, Live Action's president, says her organization's videos reveal a common trend of unethical counseling practices and disregard for the law at Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the U.S.: "In case after case, Planned Parenthood acts in contempt of its legal and professional obligations to report child rape. At a time when the Obama administration, through its new health care plan, is offering potentially billions of dollars to the abortion industry, state and federal lawmakers need to take notice of Planned Parenthood's lawlessness and make certain they receive no more taxpayer subsidies."

Live Action is also responsible for a recent video expose of biased counseling and medical misinformation at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Wisconsin law requires that women be provided accurate medical information before undergoing an abortion.

"The evidence is now available for all to see that Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin ignores state laws that have been in place for years," Rose says. "Wisconsin law enforcement needs to follow the lead of other jurisdictions, investigate this corrupt organization, and enforce the laws that protect vulnerable women and their pre-born children."